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A cat fight is actually a natural behavior, and the key to getting cats to stop is to understand why they’re fighting in the first place. Cat behavior is complex, so be patient. You may need to try several solutions before finding one that works.

Why Do Cats Fight?

Have you just introduced a new cat into the home? Do you have a young cat who is reaching sexual maturity? Have you moved, leaving your cats to establish new territories? The root cause will determine how you resolve your cats’ conflicts. The most common causes for cat spats are listed below:

Why do cats fight? Photography by 101cats/istock.

Hormones

Male cats are often involved in inter-cat aggression, which most often occurs when a cat reaches social maturity between two and four years of age. Although this type of aggression is usually seen in males competing for mates, it can occur between cats of any sex when territorial conflicts occur.

The first step toward eliminating this form of a cat fight is to spay and neuter your cats. If you’ve already done so, pheromone products like Feliway can help reduce aggression. Keep in mind, you need coverage in every room of your house for it to be effective. Feliway now makes pheromone collars as well.

That “New Cat Smell”

When you bring a new cat into the home, it will have a new cat smell that screams “alien invader” to your resident cats. Some cats are more troubled by this than others. Integrating their smells can expedite a resolution of their conflict.

Rub a towel over one, then rub the same towel over the second cat to mingle their scents. Do this several times a day for several weeks.

Jealousy

A new cat will almost always get more attention from you than your existing brood does. Set aside extra one-on-one time with your other cats to alleviate their fears that the new cat is stealing all your love. Jealousy is more likely to be an issue with breeds like the Siamese that bond closely with their people, and they will need lots of reassurance that their place in your heart is secure.

Territory

Cats are by nature territorial, even if the territory extends no further than the end of your couch. When you introduce a new cat into your household, the new cat will need to establish territory, and your existing cats will need to defend theirs. This often results in a cat fight.

Each of your cats probably has a “spot” they call their own. Discourage the new cat from adopting one of these spots by providing her with her own special spot. Sprinkle it with catnip and put a towel with her scent on it.

Consider providing the new cat with her own cat tree. She won’t be poaching the territory of your existing cats, and she can mark it as her own with her scent.

Or, establish new separate “cat spaces” in your home. Set up a decorative panel screen in the corner of a room, or reposition your furniture to break up a large space, carving out more smaller “territories” for your cats.

How to Stop a Cat Fight Before It Happens

If your cats won’t stop fighting even after trying everything above, it’s time for incarceration. It’s not as bad as it sounds. You want to force proximity upon the two cats without endangering either of them.

Get a large dog crate — do not use a cat carrier. Place it in a spare room, and put one cat (with a litter box and bed) in the crate, and the other cat outside the crate. Leave them alone in the room together. Do this every day for at least a week, alternating which cat gets crated.

When things appear to be less volatile between them, let them out together in the room (but don’t leave them alone together). Play with them, give them treats, and praise good behavior. If one starts a fight, put him in the crate. Continue until they can be together in the room without fighting.

At that point, you can reintroduce them to the rest of the house. When one starts a cat fight, he goes back in the crate. Again, praise good behavior and reward with treats. Within a month, the two cats should be able to coexist fairly peacefully.

How to Break Up a Cat Fight

Through all of this, you’ll probably need to break up a few cat fights. Never reach in and try to separate fighting cats yourself. Instead, squirt the cats with a squirt gun or toss water on them from a distance (so that they’re not aware that you’re the source of the water). It’s good to keep loaded squirt guns throughout the house for this purpose. Alternatively, loud noises (an air gun, a can full of pennies, or banging a pan) can be effective.

NEVER hit them or chase them with a broom. It will only make them more aggressive, and it can permanently destroy their trust in you.

With patience and a clear understanding of cat behavior, you should be able to achieve household harmony within a month or two.

I have two female cats who have lived peacefully for 4 years together as best friends. One day, one cat was throwing up a hairball and the other cat viciously attacked her. She felt extremely threatened, growling and hissing even at us, which was extemely out of character. It took about 2 weeks to re-socialize her and for the most part, things have been good between to the 2 cats. However, she still has these episodes where she gets freaked out by the other cats movements (usually after food and at night), and she goes in this primal mode and viciously attacks the other cat. I usually put the attacker in another room where she calms down. After half hour, she comes out like nothing has ever happened and sleeps with the other kitty on the bed. I just find it so strange that she can attack her one day and groom/sleep beside her the next. These episodes are definitely not play. Eating and literbox habits are normal. Anyone have any idea what this could be?

I am having the same problem. I wanted to know if you found a solution or anyone reached out to you. It’s hard to see my fur babies love each other so much and one day turn after so long. I am sad and confused for them and don’t know how to make it better. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and have read so many different views an opinions. At the moment I am taking turns with the cats locking them in a bed room. The minute I put them together it’s back to fighting again.

Michele
I am also having the same unnerving bizarre problem with my 2 cats who have lived peacefully the past 4 years. Jane (9 years old) Mr Poe (4 yrs) have decided they hate each other. Poe has been with Jane since he was rescued as a 7 week old kitten. Never a problem.. We also have Eddie, 7, Calypso 4, Poe’s sister and newcomer Snowy, 5 months. Out of the blue, about a month ago, we heard a horrible screaming fight . It was Jane and Poe. We thought is would pass, but it has not. It is musical rooms in our house. Each cat taking turns behind closed doors. We have tried 3 times to integrate. No luck. Snowy has been spayed, so I don’t think the hormone thing is coming into play. I am SO upset and troubled by this. My h8me is no longer peaceful with this constant awareness to prevent a dangerous cat fight . I love all my cats, and fear they w8ll seriously hurt each other. I have tried the feliway, the product smelled like it was burning, so I don’t feel is safe. The spray doesn’t do a thing. I’m a5 my witts end…

I grew up in a very rural area next to wilderness. Our family has always had cats who are both indoor and outdoor cats. The females have always been the savvy ones but it seems that every male cat we have had has disappeared probably from coyotes or owls which has always been awful for me to deal with.

I now have two female cats who have been spayed. They are now 5 years old. They are sisters from the same litter. They used to be the best of buddies. When she was a kitten, the black cat (Moonbeam) loved to wrestle her siblings until they were all exhausted. My sister gave Moonbeam to me when she was about 4 months old. She loved it in our townhouse and loved to play upstairs and down. I would take her on trips in the pickup truck back to Idaho to visit her siblings from time to time. My sister said “you know Ben you should bring Moonbeam’s favorite playmate sister with you and then Moonbeam wouldn’t be alone.” So I packed up Lynx and brought her with me as well. They both were awesome kitties growing up together. I named Moonbeam’s sister Lynx because she has the same markings as a Lynx cat. Very pretty.

Lynx and Moonbeam got along great for the first 3 or 4 years they were living together. When my spouse and I moved into my mom’s house before our home was built we placed Moonbeam and Lynx in their own large room. They had their own beds and they had a large treehouse to climb in along with other toys. They each had their own litter box. The house we lived in for about 4 years is the house I grew up in, my mom’s house. Also this house is large (two floors) and is built in the midst of a large aspen forest adjacent to wilderness. Both Lynx and Moonbeam were in paradise when they went outside with me for several hours a day while I worked out in my barn and in the gardens. They even had their own special tree to climb in. The winter before last (2015-2016) was a long, difficult winter and I did not let the kitties outside that often in the winter because I felt they were exposed to danger including owls and coyotes. When I began letting them out in the Spring of 2016 Lynx became very aggressive and territorial toward Moonbeam. Then Moonbeam became nasty right back. This lasted off and on for about 2 weeks and then they settled right back down. I let them out pretty much every day for several hours a day. Then last winter they were ok together in their room and also in the apartment part of the house where we lived downstairs. I have kept them together at my mother’s house because I am here half of the time and in our own home half of the time. I let them both out (even though it was bitter cold) about a week ago and now Lynx is back being nasty to Moonbeam. Ugh! My mother’s caregivers have always made sure they are both fed twice a day and that their water is kept full. I change their litter box about every 2 to 3 days so that it’s very clean.

Now it is the winter of 2017 and I am in the process of getting them ready to move to our own house just about 23 minutes away in a town called Victor, Idaho. We have a beautiful home there that is at the edge of a neighborhood. I am not likely to let them outside much as the neighborhood has dogs, etc. I am afraid they may run away and not be very oriented toward a new neighborhood. I am hoping that they will adapt to their new much larger space and that they like it a lot. It will be great having them back with us together so we can let them upstairs and they can always go downstairs when they wish to eat or need to use the litter box. I am afraid that if Lynx does not get along with her sister Moonbeam that I may have to give Lynx to a dear friend whom I have absolutely no doubt would treat her with immense love, respect and create a loving home for her in California with him. I am hoping that this won’t have to happen but I am leaving it as the only other option after all other options have been exhausted. Lynx is an amazing cat with people. She and I have bonded but I have a rule that since Moonbeam was homed with us first that Moonbeam is the cat who would stay with us. Also the fact that Moonbeam never has started any of these fights that I have ever seen is evidence that Lynx is the alpha and the one who is most territorial.

If anyone has any other Ideas please let me know. I never thought cats would become so high maintenance. They weren’t when they got along well. One of the things I have always loved about Moonbeam is how she would sit with me and purr for a while and then after a little bit she would just prefer to go off and entertain herself. Lynx is much more needy a lot of the time. I just don’t like seeing Lynx being so terribly nasty to her sister. It’s upsetting to see that.

I have 20 cats. They are all fixed. The latest stray who has been with us now a little over two years is attacking two that are not aggressive and NOW going after one who has been with us (7 yrs) the longest. We have not had any new litters since we caught the two mommas and had them fixed. I have never had problems before the last two months. They all can come in or out. The troublemaker is brilliant and fearless but I may have to get rid of him. Now there are three more who have been here over four years starting to go after the meek ones.
All the cats were born in our backyard. We were blessed with a feral organization to help us neuter/spay them. Just so defeating that there is little peace in the kingdom now.

I’ve watched their body language and if it looked like there was going to be a problem I would say “NO” very loudly. And I’ve also clapped my hands. I also have a spray bottle with water in it. I would spray near them and if they didn’t listen, I would squirt them. Now all they have to do is see the bottle and they stop when I say no. I did it this way because I have birds and they were trying to climb the birdcages to get at them. Now they know not to bother the birds.
And I have fur babies 2 yrs to 16 yrs both male and female.

I don’t know if this helps but I’ve stopped a lot of cat fight by loudly screaming “hey, hey” and clapping my hands together. Seems to work better than a can full of pennies. I did the wrong thing by getting a female cat who is a year old to my existing cat. It doesn’t help them the existing cat is a Persian male and the new one is a female stray.